Soils that have an aquic moisture regime or are artificially drained and;
have organic soil materials that extend from the surface to a depth of 16 inches or more; or
have a histic epipedon (either mineral or organic); or
have an epipedon that has ‘n” value of greater than 0.7; are VERY POORLY DRAINED
Soils that have an aquic moisture regime or are artificially drained and
have an albic horizon that lies just above a horizon having hue 10YR or redder, value less than 5, chroma less than 4; and have faint to prominent mottles in the albic horizon less than 12 inches below the soil surface; or
within 20 inches of the soil surface have textures of dominately very fine sand or finer with distinct or prominent mottles less than 12 inches below the soil surface and have a subsurface horizon less than 20 inches below the soil surface that has dominant color, moist, in the matrix of chroma 2 or less, value 4 or more, or
within 20 inches of the soil surface have textures of dominantly loamy fine sand or coarser with distinct or prominent mottles less than 12 inches below the soil surface and have a subsurface horizon less than 20 inches below the soil surface that has dominant color, moist, in the matrix chroma 3 or less, value 4 or more; or
have any textures with no mottles and have a subsurface horizon less than 20 inches below the soil surface that has dominant color, moist, in the matrix of chroma 1 or less, value 4 or more; or
have a mineral eipiedon greater than 12 inches and less than 20 inches that is underlain with a mottled subsurface horizon less than 20 inches below the soil surface that has dominant color, moist, in the matrix of chroma 2 or less, value 4 or more; are
POORLY DRAINED
Soils that have distinct or prominent mottles, that are not relic mottles, at a depth less than 15 inches below the soil surface; are
SOMEWHAT POORLY DRAINED
Soils that have distinct or prominent mottles, that are not relic mottles, between a depth of 15 inches and 40 inches below the soil surface; are
MODERATELY WELL DRAINED
Soils that have textures in any horizons between 10 to 40 inches of very fine sand or finer; are
WELL DRAINED
All other soils; are
EXCESSIVELY DRAINED
ADDENDUM TO KEY SOIL TYPES
Standards for Fill Material:
Fill material consisting of organic materials or non-soil materials such as tree stumps, sawdust, wood chips and bark, birch, asphalt, concrete, metal, wallboard, etc., even with a soil matrix, should not be used.
The in-place fill should have less than 15% organic matter and non-soil materials by volume.
The in-place fill should not contain more that 25% by volume, of cobbles (6 inches diameter) and boulders (larger than 12 inches in diameter).
The in-place fill should not have more than 27% by weight of clay size (0.002mm and smaller ) particles.
The fill should be essentially homogeneous. If bedding planes and other discontinuities are present, detailed analysis is necessary.
Examples of soils classified using the KEY TO SOIL TYPES:
An excessively drained sand and gravel soil with no restrictive features on a 9% slope would be identified as; 111CH
A moderately well drained glacial till soil with a hardpan on a 4% slope, would be identified as: 323BH
A somewhat poorly drained clayey soil with firm consistence and high clay content in the substratum, on a 1% slope, would be identified as: 453BH.
A very poorly drained organic soil located on the tidal marsh would be identified as: 691BH.
An area of well drained glacial till where bedrock is present, and the shallow soils are so intermixed with deep soils that they cannot be separated, on a 16% slope, would be identified as: 22XDH.
An area that was filled with sandy soil material that meets the Standards for Fill Material, on a 4% slope, and is excessively drained, would be identified as; 161BH.
An area that was filled with stumps and concrete blocks such that the fill material would not meet the Standards for Fill Material, on a 2% slope, and the depth to a seasonal high water table could not be determined, would be identified as: 766BH.
INTENSITY SOIL MAP IDENTIFIER
The H is placed at the end of the soil type to identify the area mapped as meeting the standards for high intensity soil maps. If, as a preliminary planning tool, a soil map is made that does not meet the standards, but the soil scientist still prefers to use the connotative legend to identify the soils, a P (signifying a preliminary map) will be used in place of the H, i.e. 111CP. Maps made with soil types ending with P do not meet the standards for high intensity soil maps and are not intended to be used for wetland ordinances, lot size by soil type regulations, etc.
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